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From left: Zespri president global sales & marketing Daniel Mathieson; Prime Minister John Key; Zespri chair Peter McBride; executive chair of Te Awanui Huka Pak Neil Te Kani; and Zespri chief executive Lain Jager.
Prime Minister John Key has officially opened Zespri’s new sales and marketing hub in Singapore, which has been set up to manage the kiwifruit industry’s growth.
Zespri chair Peter McBride says it was an honour to have the Prime Minister open the new office.
“Volumes of Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit are set to grow strongly in the next few years and Zespri is investing in its market capability to deliver this growth for New Zealand growers,” he says.
“Our head office is in Tauranga in the region where 80% of New Zealand’s kiwifruit is grown and this Singapore hub is the market-side base for our global sales and marketing leadership team.
“The Singapore office is not just Zespri’s global sales and marketing office, it’s part of our focus on the Southeast Asia region as well,” says McBride.
The Southeast Asian region is an important growth market for Zespri, with forecast sales of around $78 million this season and sales volumes expected to almost double over the next five years. McBride says the hub will also offer corporate support services to nearby Asian markets including Japan and China –Zespri’s largest two country markets.
The Prime Minister joined a delegation of Maori kiwifruit growers on a marketing visit to Asia for a traditional Maori blessing of the new office and its whakairo/carving.
Kaumatua Pouroto Ngaropo blessed the office and the carving Te Tipuranga by Tauranga-based carver James Tapiata, which symbolises the connection to Zespri’s roots in the Bay of Plenty region in New Zealand.
Moves are well underway to establish a new Kiwifruit Breeding Centre (KBC) - a joint venture between Plant and Food Research (PFR) and Zespri - designed to speed up the process of developing new and improved kiwifruit varieties.
Kiwifruit exporter Zespri has reported a record 2020-21 season, with bumper tray returns across all categories.
Next month, New Zealand kiwifruit growers will get a chance to say yes or no to a Zespri proposal for one-year trial to grow SunGold kiwifruit in China.
Kiwifruit is a Kiwifruit is a key sector for the country's horticulture industry and contributed almost $2 billion to communities across NZ in 2020. Covid-19 has thrown a major spanner into the country's harvests by severely limiting the number workers, many of whom would usually come from overseas. Mike Murphy of NZ Kiwifruit Growers Inc. talked with Bay of Plenty grower and employer Sean Carnahan about the challenges.
In a matter of days, kiwifruit growers organisation (NZKGI) chief executive Nikki Johnson will leave her role at NZKGI.
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